Product information

Domaine de Beudon Fendant Chasselas Vieille Vigne AOC Valais 2020

Chasselas from Valais, Switzeland

$111

$106ea in any 3+
$101ea in any 6+
Alc: 11.4%
Closure: Cork

Description

Delicious spiced, pear, perfumed with flowers, almost flinty, lovely phenolics, textural and fine, long and even, gentle, flowing, resolved. Savoury. Subtle layered intrigue. Fine acid profile. Bloody fun wine.

The last time I had a Chasselas it was from an old planting in Victoria the origin of which I can’t remember. I ended up buying cases of it as a cleanskin for personal consumption. Its memory prompted me to try this wine from the “vineyard in the sky”.

From the incredible farm on top of a cliff with on access aside a walk (including a chain link section on the edge of the cliff with 30 centimetre footway on rocks) or an ancient cable car that feel down in 1978. Incredible biodynamic estate too, with mixed agriculture, high up at 800 to 900 metres above sea level. Wild ferment, no fining or filtering.

Juicy with crisp edges, a glossy texture with honey-nut elements in tonic water with cucumber – the scents and flavours match. It’s cool and restrained, shows some depth, quiet complexity and this beautiful restraint. Delicious wine, so moreish and nourishing in a way.

Mike Bennie TWF 94 Points

In stock

Check out all of the wines by Domaine de Beudon

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

About Domaine de Beudon

Carefully crafted by the Granges family. A remarkable place that sits pretty on the steep side of the Swiss Alps at an altitude of 900m, Domaine De Beudon is aptly referred to as the “vineyard in the sky” by locals and wine-lovers alike. This wonderful biodynamic estate is accessible only by foot or cable car; hard to stumble across but impossible to forget.

Domaine de Beudon array of wines include Chasselas (Fendant), Petite Arvine, Riesling, Silvanner, Pinot Noir, Doilinoir, Gamay and many more. Their Chasselas and Petite Arvine have caught our eye! Chasselas, as it is more famously known, goes by the name of Fendant in the Valais.

Jacques Granges, who was affectionately known as Jacky, often said that people thought he was crazy. He was crazy to move up to Beudon as a single young man in the early 70’s. And crazy to convert the estate to Biodynamics long before anyone else – he was the first in Switzerland. Why would someone decide to painstakingly build terraces up the steep high hills of the Valais and give life to the first biodynamic Swiss vineyard on such unhospitable mountains? The answer lies in the wines themselves! After tasting the wines of Domaine Beudon, it is clear that Jacky Granges was simply another great man whose genius has been dubbed crazy by those who did not understand him.

As you might imagine, considering the conditions, production is very small, and the wines are a rare find. Jacky sadly passed away in 2016 from a fatal fall in his vineyard. Despite Jacky’s death, his wife and two daughters continue his dream of producing outstanding wines.

In the Vineyard

The vineyard in the sky… The vines at Domaine Beudon are perched on a small swell half way up a sheer mountainside in the Valais region of Switzerland. The only way to access the domaine is a 3 hour walk up an absurdly precarious footpath with fixed ropes or a small, rustic cable car. The vineyard sites are very steep, up to 50 degrees in spots and they top out at 900 meters above sea level. This is extreme grape growing at its apex. Soils composed of granite, gneiss, limestone.

In the Winery

Details of the winemaking are a little thin on the ground. Whatever they’re doing it’s translating to loads of fun in the glass.

What we do know for the whites is the fruit is processed at the top of the hill and the juice is transported by calecar for fermentation and élévage at the bottom of the hill.

Where in the World is Domaine de Beudon?

Domaine de Beudon is located in the Valais region in south-western Switzerland.

Click to enlarge🔎
94 Points

From the incredible farm on top of a cliff with on access aside a walk (including a chain link section on the edge of the cliff with 30 centimetre footway on rocks) or an ancient cable car that feel down in 1978. Incredible biodynamic estate too, with mixed agriculture, high up at 800 to 900 metres above sea level. Wild ferment, no fining or filtering.

Juicy with crisp edges, a glossy texture with honey-nut elements in tonic water with cucumber – the scents and flavours match. It’s cool and restrained, shows some depth, quiet complexity and this beautiful restraint. Delicious wine, so moreish and nourishing in a way.

Mike Bennie TWF

Where in the world does the magic happen?

Domaine de Beudon, Domaine de Beudon, Fully, Switzerland

Valais
Switzeland

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